The Theme Of Change In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 starts off with one sentence: “It was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 3). The following paragraph describes the transformations that takes place as books are burned at the hands of our protagonist, Guy Montag. Books are turned black as they are spewed with kerosene and are engulfed in flames of black, red, and yellow. This opening connects to the story’s overall theme of change. The first significant change in Montag’s life is when he meets his neighbor Clarisse McClellan, a seventeen-year-old girl who tells him that she is crazy. When he meets her, Montag notes the aroma of apricots and strawberries, which is unusual due to the time of year. This connects back to the beginning as apricots are yellow-orange and strawberries are red, which are colors that are associated with fire. Throughout their limited interactions, Clarisse has Montag question things he never has before, including his happiness and his love for his wife, Mildred. When Clarisse disappears, “he didn 't know what there was about the afternoon, but it was not seeing her somewhere in the world. The lawn was empty, the trees empty, the street empty, and while at first he did …show more content…
Many more fire motifs show up before Montag is forced to burn down his house and all the books within. Montag notices an orange flame and the books are described to have “black type and yellowed paper” (Bradbury 115). When the time finally comes to burn down the house, Montag once again feels pleasure. “And as before, it was good to burn, he felt himself gush out in the fire, snatch, rend, rip in half with flame, and put away the senseless problem. If there was no solution, well there was now no problem either. Fire was the best for everything!” (Bradbury 116). Soon after burning down the house, Montag lights Beatty on fire with his flamethrower and becomes a